A pair of power arms will take the mound when the Atlanta Braves host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday in the second game of their season-ending three-game series.
The Pirates (70-90) won the series opener 9-3 and have won five of their past six games. The Braves (75-85) need to win the final two games to avoid dropping their first season series to the Pirates since 2017.
The pitching matchup features a pair of hard-throwing right-handers — Atlanta’s Spencer Strider (7-13, 4.45 ERA) vs. Pittsburgh rookie Bubba Chandler (3-1, 4.56).
Chandler, Pittsburgh’s third-round draft choice in 2021, will make his seventh appearance and fourth start since being inserted into the rotation in early September. After getting hammered in his first start for nine runs in 2 2/3 innings, Chandler has pitched well in his two most recent starts. In his appearance against the Athletics on Saturday, Chandler threw five scoreless innings and allowed only one hit as he picked up the win.
Chandler has a lively fastball. Against the A’s, he had 10 pitches clocked at 100 mph, a rare feat. His ability to find the bottom of the strike zone with sliders and changeups made it difficult for hitters to lay off fastballs up in the zone.
“When guys start keying on heaters and when you execute in bottoms and off-speed, you have to start going down there and then, once you start going down there, you go back to the heater,” Chandler said. “It’s just kind of a cat-and-mouse game.”
Strider will make his 23rd start after missing most of last season with arm surgery. Strider’s strikeout numbers have been down; he’s struck out 126 in 119 1/3 innings, compared to 281 strikeouts in 186 2/3 innings when he won 20 games in 2023.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said, “It’s not easy. You talk about it all the time. You miss a year and it takes a long time to get back.”
Strider’s past five starts have been solid. He is 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA and has not allowed more than three runs in that span. In his most recent start on Sunday, Strider threw five scoreless innings and allowed six hits and three walks and registered six strikeouts in a 6-2 win against the Detroit Tigers.
“It’s very encouraging that I struggled a lot and was able to make some adjustments and things are trending in the right direction, right when I wanted myself to,” Strider said. “We’re not going to have that opportunity to pitch in the postseason.”
Strider has made two career starts against the Pirates, going 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA. He did not face Pittsburgh earlier this season.
Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin is making a final push in his drive to become National League Rookie of the Year. He has hit safely in a career-best nine straight games and leads all NL rookies with 80 RBIs.
Pittsburgh’s Spencer Horwitz continues to torment Atlanta pitchers. He was 3-for-3 with two walks, two homers and four RBIs in the series opener. In four career games — three when he played for Toronto — against Atlanta, Horwitz is 9-for-11 with five home runs and nine RBIs.
–Field Level Media
